The Hidden Productivity Drain: How The ‘Coordination Tax’ at Work Is Wearing Us Down and How to Counteract it, by Jonathan H. Westover PhD

Abstract: This article examines the growing "coordination tax" in modern workplaces—the increasing time and effort employees spend on communication, alignment, and stakeholder management rather than core productive work. The authors explore how organizational complexity, technological proliferation, and flattened hierarchies have intensified coordination demands, with research indicating knowledge workers now spend 35-80% of their time on coordination activities. This hidden productivity drain not only hampers organizational effectiveness but also increases worker stress and reduces job satisfaction. The article presents evidence-based strategies to mitigate coordination costs, including raising awareness of coordination needs, streamlining communication channels, empowering self-managed teams, leveraging digital tools, balancing coordination with autonomy, and learning from coordination failures. By implementing these approaches, organizations can reclaim employee bandwidth for substantive work and boost overall productivity in today's collaboration-intensive environment.